Dive Brief:

• Diageo is launching the Orphan Barrel Whiskey Distilling Co. in Tullahoma, Tenn., setting its sights on America's growing love for whiskey.
• The new company will seek out "lost and forgotten" barrels of whiskey from all over the world, finally getting their contents onto store shelves.
• The first releases include 20-year-old Barterhouse Whiskey and Old Blowhard Whiskey that has been aged for 26 years. Both should be available throughout the U.S. under strict allocation in March.

Dive Insight:

U.S. consumers have developed quite the taste for whiskey, thanks in no small part to TV shows like "Mad Men," so it makes sense that companies responsible for producing those spirits would hone in on that interest. Of course, Orphan Barrel is going to target a very specific breed of whiskey consumer — the aficionado — willing to pay prices like $75 and $150 a bottle for some of the best, never-released whiskeys that have long been forgotten in the backs of warehouses. They exist, though, and we suspect these aren't even the lowest prices they'll pay for a long-orphaned bourbon or scotch.